[MUD-Dev] Simpson's "In-Game Economics of UO"

[Brian Green]

Timothy Dang wrote:
 
> If people were solely motivated by the profits from a skill, and thought
> about it, then the whole thing wouldn't be quite as much of a problem,
> because fewer people would get into a production field once it was mature.
> But folks also want to be a blacksmith for the sake of being a blacksmith.
> I'd be curious to know about the frustration level of folks starting out
> in a trade. If it weren't for existing opportunity costs (gotta choose
> between killing trolls and crafting swords), one would expect that every
> profession would be a money-loser, since the competitive price for an item
> would be the price charged by those already skilled at production.

This reminds me of certain spells in Meridian.  One of the most valued
spells was "Mend", which allowed you to fix an item that had partially
deteriorated.  The drawback was that the "maximum hitpoints" of the item
were decreased each time it was mended, making it less durable.  The
amount by which maximum decreased depended on the player's skill; more
skill caused less decrease, allowing for use from the item.

Merdian's spells increase through use.  So, to improve your percentage,
you had to cast the spell.  Players with low mend skills would often
cast the spell for free to anyone who wanted it.  Players with mid-level
mend skills would often require the material component for the spell
before it was cast (a few mildly hard to get items).  Players with high
level, however, could command good money for their abilities.

This was an interesting interaction, because at low levels you want to
cast your spell a lot to increase it, and damaging an item by yourself
was fairly slow going.  People would often accept these mends on common
items to get a bit more life out of them; it often wasn't worth spening
money to preserve a common item.  As the skill increased, however, the
more the player could offer in exchange for the opportunity to
"practice".  At high levels, especially when maxxed out, the player had
no reason to cast the spell for practice; it was purely cash or
need-based use, and people often wanted special items preserved for as
long as possible.

--
"And I now wait / to shake the hand of fate...."  -"Defender", Manowar
     Brian Green, brian at psychochild.org  aka  Psychochild
       |\      _,,,---,,_      *=* Morpheus, my kitten, says "Hi!" *=*
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_  
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'  "Ritalin Cures Next Picasso" 
     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)               -The_Onion_, August 4th, 1999



_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev